Article suspension and carrying container

ABSTRACT

AN ARTICLE SUSPENSION AND CARRYING CONTAINER WHICH INCLUDES A DIE CUT CORRUGATED BOX AND A DIE CUT CORRUGATED INSERT WHICH ARE SCORED AND CUT OUT IN SUCH A MANNER THAT WHEN THEY ARE FOLDED AND SET UP, THE INSERT IS ADAPTED TO RIGIDLY HOLD AN ARTICLE IN AN OFFSET POSITION SO THAT SUITABLE CLEARANCE   IS CONTINUOUSLY MAINTAINED BETWEEN THE ARTICLE BEING HELD AND THE WALLS OF THE CORRUGATED BOX.

United States Patent Gerald Brown Hialeah, Fla. 815,336

Apr. 11, 1969 June 28, 1971 Owens-lllino's, lnc.

Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee ARTICLE SUSPENSION AND CARRYING CONTAINER 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs. I

US. Cl 206/8, 229/528. 206/4519, 229/16 Int. Cl r. A45c 11/02 Field of Search 224/458;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1932 Johnson 206/8 10/1955 Billerbeck 229/528 3/1964 Baker etal.... 229/52BXi 10/1962 Struble..... 206/8 6/1966 Raskin 206/8 Primary Examiner-Joseph R. Leclair Assistant Examiner-John M. Caskie Attorneys-Alan J. Steger and E. .l. Holler ABSTRACT: An article suspension and carrying container which includes a die cut corrugated box and a die cut corrugated insert which are scored and cut out in such a manner that when they are folded and set up, the insert is adapted to rigidly hold an article in an offset position so that suitable clearance is continuously maintained between the article being held and the walls of the corrugated box PATENIEDJuN28l971 3587.836

SHEET 3 OF 3 IN VENTOR.

GERALD [\LBKOMJN BY .3. PM, A'TmmQEQS ARTICLE SUSPENSION AND CARRYING CONTAINER SUMMARY AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In general, this invention relates to an article holding and carrying container which rigidly suspends the article being carried in a fixed position so that it does not come in contact with the walls of the container. More particularly, this invention relates to a container which has been successfully devised to rigidly suspend a styrofoam head in such a position that a prestyled wig positioned on the head will not contact the walls of the container and will, therefore, arrive at its destination in its exact prestyled condition.

Although this invention will be described in detail in connection with its use as a prestyled wig carrier, it should be clear that it has equally suitable use in packaging and shipping many other articles, such as clocks, tools, instruments, glass objects, and other damageable items having a base portion.

The wig industry and the use of wigs has increased greatly in the post few years. Television and other media have caused women in particular to become very appearance conscious. The care and styling of a woman's hair has always been a major problem from the standpoint of time and expense. Prestyled wigs which maintain their styled condition for many months have solved the-hair problem for today's women by providing an instant hairdo. The provision of these wigs is most efficiently carried out when they are prestyled by the manufacturer prior to their being shipped to the customer. The shipping of these prestyled wigs has created considerable problems for the manufacturer in that shipment in available containers has resulted in destruction of the prestyling given to the wig. These unsuccessful shipping packages included at tempts to hold the prestyled wig and its styrofoam head" stationary within a box by surrounding it with shredded paper, newspaper balls, and other packing materials, The extra packing materials not only deformed the prestyled wigs, thereby ruining their styling effect, but also required an excessive amount of labor and expense in packaging the wig originally and in restyling the wig after shipment. In addition, the customer incurred the additional expense of providing a carrying case for the wig. Thus, the need for a completely new shipping container for prestyled wigs became very apparent as the demand for such prestyled wigs increased.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a shipping container for a prestyled wig which will overcome the disadvantages associated with prior art containers previously used to ship such wigs.

Another object of this invention is to provide a shipping container for a prestyled wig which will rigidly suspend the head on which such wigs are positioned so as to maintain a clearance between the wig and the walls of the container.

A further object of this invention is to provide a shipping container for a prestyled wig which is also adapted to be used by the customer as a carrying case for the wig.

Other objects, features, and advantages will become ap parent upon reference to the following detailed description of this invention and the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment thereof.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a plan view of a corrugated paperboard blank which is suitably scored, slotted, and cut so as to be adapted to be folded to form the wig-carrying box in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a corrugated paperboard blank which is scored, slotted, and cut so as to be adapted to be folded to form a suitable insert for the box of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the box blank of FIG. I as it is initially folded to form the container of this invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the folded box blank of FIG. 3 at a later stage in its assembly procedure.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the assembled box of FIG. 4 with the insert of FIG. 2 folded and positioned within the box to rigidly hold a head" therein.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the completed container and carrying case of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In general, the preferred embodiment of this invention is a corrugated paperboard container which has been successfully devised to rigidly suspend a styrofoam head" in such a position that a prestyled wig positioned on the head" will not contact the walls of the container and will, therefore, arrive at its destination in its exact prestyled condition.

More specifically, the box blank 10 of FIG. 1 is scored, slotted, and cut so as to be adapted to be folded to form the box 12 shown in FIG. 4. The box blank 10 includes a front closing panel 14 which has a closing tuck flap l6 and a pair of insert retaining flaps 18. Also included in the box blank 10 are a pair of side panels 20 and 22, a back panel 24, a top inner panel 26, a top outer panel 28, a top locking panel 30, a bottom inner panel 32, a bottom outer panel 34, a bottom locking panel 36, and a pair of interlocking insert retaining panels 38 and 40. The top outer panel 28 is modified to include a pair of handle-forming cutouts 42. The top locking panel 30 has a top locking tab 44 which is adapted to be received in a cutout 46 on insert retaining panel 38. A portion of insert retaining panel 38 has been removed to form a pair of locking tabs 48 and a locking tab access notch 50. Similarly, a portion of insert retaining panel 40 has been removed to form a stepped locking tab 52 which is adapted to cooperate with locking tabs 48 and access notch 50 on insert retaining panel 38 to interlock panels 38 and 40. Insert retaining panel 40 further includes a pair of spacer portions 54 which are adapted to be folded perpendicular to each other to form an insert receiving space as shown in FIG. 4. The bottom locking panel 36 has a bottom locking tab 56 which is adapted to be received in a cutout 58 on insert retaining panel 40. Additionally, side panel 22 has a tuck flap access notch 59 which provides easy access to the closing tuck flap 16 when the container is closed as shown in FIG. 6. It should be noted that all adjoining panels are separated only by score lines 60 except panels 30 and 14, 14 and 36, 38 and 24, and 24 and 40 which are separated by slits 62.

The unique container of this invention also includes an insert 64 (FIG. 5) which is formed from insert blank 66 shown in FIG. 2. The insert blank 66 includes a base panel 68 flanked on its opposite sides by a pair of identical supporting flaps 70 an a pair of article holding flaps 72. Each of the pairs of flaps 70 and 72 is connected to and spaced from the base panel 68 by means of a spacer portion 74. These spacers 74 form the four sides of the insert 64 when the pairs of flaps 70 and 72 are folded into their parallel positions with respect to base panel 68 as can be seen in FIG. 5. The article holding flaps 72 each include arcuate cutouts 76 and a pair of tabs 78. The supporting flaps 70 are each divided at their center by a tab receiving slot 80 which is adapted to receive the tabs 78 on the article holding flaps 72. All of the panels, flaps, and tabs on insert blank 66 are separated only by score lines 81. To assemble insert 64 from blank 66, supporting flaps 70 are first folded into a position parallel to and overlying the base panel 68. The article holding flaps 72 are likewise folded to a position parallel to and overlying the base panel 68, and tabs 78 are folded and inserted into slots 80, thereby locking flaps 70 and 72 together and placing arcuate cutouts 76 adjacent to each other forming a circular opening. It should be noted that when the insert 64 is utilized to hold a styrofoam head," such as that shown in dashed lines 82 in FIG. 5, the head" must have a base portion ofa larger diameter than the circular opening formed by arcuate cutouts 76 and the head" must be placed on the base panel 68 prior to the assembly of the flaps 70 and 72.

The initial steps in the assembly of the box blank 10 can be seen in the transition from FIG. 1 to FIG. 3. Connected panels 38, 28, and 30 are folded forward so that insert retaining panel 38 lies inside of back panel 24 and top locking panel 30 lies inside of front closing panel 14. Similarly, connected panels 40, 34, and 36 are then folded upwardly 90 so that insert retaining panel 40 lies inside of panel 38 and bottom locking panel 36 lies inside of front panel 14. Next, top inner panel 26 and bottom inner panel 32 are folded 90 inwardly with respect to side panel 22. The configuration at this point is identical to that shown in FIG. 3.

Side panel 22 is thenpivoted to a 90 position with respect to back panel 24 while keeping top and bottom inner panels 26 and 32 to the inside of top and bottom outer panels 28 and 34, respectively. Top and bottom locking panels 30 and 36 are then sequentially folded inwardly to positions adjacent to top and bottom inner panels 26 and 32, respectively. Top locking tab 44 is inserted into tab receiving cutout 46 and bottom locking tab 56 is inserted into tab receiving cutout 58 to thereby lock the box into a rigid configuration. The insert retaining panels 38 and 40 are then folded and positioned as shown in FIG. 4'where it can be seen that spacers 54 are folded perpendicular to each other to provide a space for the insertion of insert 64 and the locking tabs 48 are locked behind the corners of panel 40 while stepped locking tab 52 is locked behind notch 50 on panel 38. As can be seen in FIG. 5,

the interlocked panels 38 and 40 provide a restraint for the entire rear portion of the insert 64. Here it should be obvious that the opening in'the insert 64 is located nearer to the front end of the box than to the back end so as to compensate for the space taken by the spacers 54. To complete the package, front closing flap 14 is pivoted so that closing tuck flap 16 is inserted inside of side panel 22. Notch 59 is provided in side panel 22 to assist in the removal ofclosing tuck flap 16 when it is desired to open the container. lt should be noted that insert retaining flaps 18 are folded upwardly 90 with respect to panel 14 prior to the closing of panel 14 so that they rest on top of the front portion of the insert 64 to restrain it from movement within the box 12.

Hence, from the preceding it can be seen that this invention provides an insert capable of rigidly holding a based member, such as the head" 82 shown here, and a box which is capable of containing and rigidly holding the insert so that suitable clearance is maintained between the object (such as the wig shown in dashed lines 84) held by the insert and the box. The wig 84 will be prestyled by the wig manufacturer and presumably positioned on the head 82 by means of a few straight pins. Thus, the head" and wig are restrained from any movement within the box with the result that the wig will not suffer any damage and will arrive at the customer in it s exact prestyled condition. It should also be clear that the container of this invention is well suited to be continually used as a carrying case by the customer.

Although but one embodiment has been shown and described in detail, it should be obvious to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains that many changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention.

lclaim:

1. A carton for suspending and carrying an article comprising a back wall, a pair of sidewalls, a hinged front wall, a plurality of panels hinged to the upper and lower ends of said walls for closing the edges of said carton, a pair of opposed retaining panels, one of said retaining panels being folded flat against the interior of the rear wall of said carton, the other of said retaining panels being first folded flat against said back wall, then reversely folded outwardly to form a horizontal ledge, and then folded toward the back wall, the free ends of said retaining panels engaging each other adjacent the back wall, and an article retaining insert member positionable in said carton in underlying relationship to said horizontal ledge.

2. The carton of claim 1 wherein each of said retaining panels includes tab portions adapted to engage the body of the opposed retaining panel.

3. The carton of claim 2 wherein said front wall includes a closing tuck flap adapted to lie adjacent to the interior of one of said sidewalls when said front wall is positioned to close said carton.

4. The carton of claim 3 further including inwardly folded tab means carried by said front wall and said closing tuck flap and positionable upon closing of said front wall, into overlying relationship to said insert member whereby said insert member is rigidly held in the one end of said carton and the held article held thereby is held free of contact with the interior of said carton.

5. The carton of claim 4 wherein said insert member includes a cutout portion corresponding to that portion of the article that it is designed to grasp.

6. The carton of claim 5 wherein one of said plurality of panels closing the ends of the carton includes a pair ofcutout portions forming hand-holding means.

7. The carton of claim 6 wherein said article is a mannequin head. 

